Wolf
by Pretender Fanatic
Summary: A girl pretender who knows nothing of The Center starts to change, then all of the sudden things go down hill from there... Please R&R!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own the pretender. No infringement is intended… Blah blah blah I don't want to hurt anybody. Don't you hate the disclaimers?   
  
A/n: Ok this story may sound familiar. I had the idea for this story for a long time, but there was always one thing that was missing. How the girl came to be what she is (Don't worry you will understand later on) Anyway one day I was reading fanfiction and I saw one that looked really good (Elf 17) anyway I read it and it had what I needed to pull my story together. I asked ShadowElfBard and she said that I could barrow it. I thank you so much ShadowElfBard!! If you guys ever want a good story to read… Elf 17 and Silent Feelings they are both really really good and by ShadowElfBard. So that is why this story may sound a lot like Elf 17. Hope you enjoy. Oh and please please please read and review!! Enjoy!   
  
P.S. things in %% are thoughts  
  
2:30 am  
  
Takara's room  
  
George Hill Rd.   
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
She was chained down. She did not know how she got here. One second she was in her bed sleeping the next second she woke up here. A man, he would have been cute in any other circumstances, comes over and looks down at her. "What do you want with me?"  
  
The man waves a syringe in front of her face. "I don't think that I should tell you that… at least not yet." He pushes the needle into one of her veins. He walks away. Then the pain starts. It started in her fingers and toes and ran up legs and arms, ripping through her chest and slamming into her head. Agonizing pain, touching every nerve in her body and ripping her muscles apart. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed until the flames of pain reached her lungs then she whimpered and withered on the metal table, wishing the pain to go away and let her rest. Every muscle in her body felt like it was being ripped apart. Just when she felt like she could not bear it anymore. She woke up, covered in sweat and breathing heavily.  
  
Takara sat up in bed thinking. There was no way that she could go back to sleep tonight after that. There was something weird about that nightmare. She had had it for awhile now, a week maybe. The thing was that the nightmare seemed so real. All her nightmares seemed real but this one was different. In this one she could smell things and feel things. It was almost more like a memory than a nightmare, a bad memory. She shrugged it off and went over to her computer to check to catch up on her music downloads. To her surprise J-man was on ICQ. She met him online about a month ago. She was careful to make sure that he did not hit on her, but so far he hasn't done anything like that. She decided to talk to him.   
  
Takara: hey  
  
J-man: You're up late  
  
Takara: I couldn't sleep. Nightmares  
  
J-man: I see not fun  
  
Takara: No they're really weird too  
  
J-man: how so?  
  
Takara: I swear that they are memories but I can not remember every actually being in the place in my dreams or what happened after I wake up, but in the dream I can feel and smell. I don't think that I can do that in my other dreams.   
  
J-man: That is weird. Do you want to talk about it?  
  
Takara: Nah it will only bring back those horrible feelings. So why are you up so late?  
  
J-man: How did you know that I was in the same time zone as you?  
  
Takara: I figured that you worked from eight to five, and that chances are you would not get online before dinner because you said that you were going out to dinner last time we talked. I also figured that if you were going to eat that you would not be back until nine. If you were with a lady It would be more like twelve. As for the time zone thing I had no idea you were in the same time zone as me.   
  
J-man: Haha looks like I just gave myself away huh?  
  
Takara: haha you could say that.   
  
J-man: Well you said that you liked to take walks by the ocean so I knew that you would probably be somewhere on the coast. I figured that you would be on the internet most likely at night and if that was the case then you would live on the east coast compared to the time zone I was in at the time.   
  
Takara: Wait wait wait… the time zone you were in at the time? Why does that sound so weird?  
  
J-man: Let's just say that there is a couple of people in this world that would do anything to have my head on a silver platter, so to speak. I move a lot.   
  
Takara: Why don't you just go to the authorities?   
  
J-man: Uh let's just say, no can do. It's complicated. Maybe I will explain it to you sometime.   
  
Takara: Man that must stinks  
  
J-man: Haha I don't know it's kinda fun, escape and evade, it does get tiring after awhile though.   
  
Takara: Hey well I think that I am gonna go back to bed. I am starting to get tired after talking to you. I have school in the morning too. So talk to you later.  
  
J-man: Am I really that boring? Well I had better get some research done. Talk to you later.   
  
2:30 am  
  
Holiday Inn  
  
New York City, New York  
  
  
  
Jarod sat at his lab top. Argyle came into the room. He and Jarod 'happened to run into each other' in Atlantic City. Since then Argyle has been with Jarod traveling around for awhile. Jarod made Argyle promise that he would go back home after three weeks. Who knew if that promise would be kept. Argyle looked over Jarod's shoulder at the computer. "What's up J-dawg?" Jarod closed his laptop so that Argyle could not see what he was working on.   
  
"Nothing, So what are you doing up?" Argyle turned away. Jarod could see that he was fully dressed with his new leather jacket still on. %He must have just got in %   
  
"Uh I couldn't sleep knowing that you were still out there," Said Argyle as he tried to slink away.   
  
Jarod laughed, "So you got all dressed up real nice and went out and looked for me? I am pretending to be a gangster not a punk." Jarod speaks a little louder as if addressing a crowd. "Who thinks Argyle went out to pick up girls and is just getting back?" Argyle turned to Jarod.   
  
"Alright so what I went to scout out some places to pick up chicks. So what? Anyway what are your doing up huh?" Jarod snickered, knowing that Argyle was trying hard to beat him at his game.   
  
"Breaking into the police database to do a background check on the lead gangsters."   
  
"Oh well, I bet that is what you are doing!" Argyle walked out of the room in a huff trying to hold on to some of his dignity.   
  
5:30 am  
  
Takara's Room  
  
George Hill Rd.   
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
%I swear you think that they could knock first period back an hour so some people could get some more sleep. % Takara hit her alarm clock to shut it up and dragged herself out of her bed. She slowly trudged towards the bathroom. % I swear if Nick even so mach as tries to talk to me he is dead meat. I am so not in a good mood today. %   
  
12:55 noon  
  
Turtle Bay Jr. Sr. High School   
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"Hey Kara are you feelin ok?" Asked a short chestnut haired girl by the name of Maggie. Takara took her head out of her hands long enough to look at Maggie.   
  
"Yeah I'm fine I just have a huge headache." Maggie watched helplessly as her best friend put her head back in her hands. She knew that her unusually tall friend did not like medicine and only took it when she really needed it.   
  
"Aren't you gonna eat your lunch?" Asked Jessie butting in to the conversation, refearing to the lunch sitting untouched in front of Kara.   
  
"Nah, you can have it. I'm not hungry," mumbled Kara not bothering to even look up this time. % Man this is not like Kara. She is usually up and all bouncy even when she is sick these headaches have really been getting to her lately. They must be pretty bad. % Thought Maggie as she glance again at Kara with her head now on the lunch room table. The bell rang to go to seventh period and everybody got up and moved to their classrooms. % Huh I hope I can make it trough the rest of the day without passin out. % Thought Kara she got up slowly from her table and dragged herself to her next class, reading,. That class would not be too hard to get through. Ms. Miller was really nice and she understood kids enough to know that we want to have fun in life too, not just learn and study.   
  
1:00 pm  
  
107 Ms. Miller's Room  
  
Turtle Bay Jr. Sr. High School  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"Zoning out, other wise called meditation is as deep as you can go in separating your mind from your body. Most religion's do it and doctors are starting to use it instead of atheistic to plaice pain in patients. In rare cases some say that they can go as deep as actually becoming someone else. It is said that they can get so disconnected form their own body that they can gain someone else's morals and make the exact same decisions that that person would in a situation. What do you think about this theory?" Asked Ms. Miller.   
  
"Personally I think that there is no way someone could do that. I mean really if there was one thing that was mistaken when you were trying to become that person then everything that you thought about them would be wrong. There is no way someone could do that and get accurate results" Kara countered this out burst of one of the students with a rebuttal of her own.   
  
"I think that it is completely possible. If you spend a lot of time with someone you tend to start doing and reacting the same as that person does. All that these people can do is simulate this person's morals more quickly. It would not surprise me at at all to find someone that could do that."  
  
"Nice come back Kara." Ms. Miller looked at Kara oddly. % huh that was rather odd. Nobody in all of my classes today actually thought that it was possible. This is the academic class but still I never even thought about it that way. % The bell rang and Kara walked ever so slowly to her next class with her head down, trying not to make her headache and worse. % I swear if I got these headaches any more often I would rather a hammer being taken to my head. %   
  
1:40 pm  
  
Gym lockers   
  
Turtle Bay Jr. Sr. High School  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"Haha and so then instead of actually telling her that the whole thing was a joke they decided to just leave her hanging. Now she is all mad at them and is cursing their names to high heavens."  
  
"Man I am so fat."  
  
"No you're not. Now I, am fat."  
  
"Dude guys none of you are fat."  
  
"Haha you have room to talk you are as thin as a tooth pick Kara."  
  
"Man you have a hairy stomach Kara." Kara looked down at her stomach, completely embarrassed.  
  
"Huh I guess I do I never noticed that before. Huh" Kara quickly put on her gym shirt so that maybe no one else would notice her abnormal hairy stomach. %What the heck is happening to me first I get all these headaches now I have a furry stomach that I never knew I had. Not to mention I have been having to clip my nails like twice I week lately. I swear that is really weird. %   
  
12:00 midnight  
  
Takara's room  
  
George Hill Rd.  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
Kara awoke breathing heavily again. She had the nightmare again but that was not what woke her up. She always woke up when she got to a certain part in the nightmare. This time she woke up before that. There was something else wrong. Kara looked over to see her computer on and booted up to the Internet. %Huh I thought for sure that I had turned my computer off before I went to bed. % She went over to turn it off and saw that J-man was on again. She decided to drop in on him real quick.  
  
Takara: You know that we should really stop these late night talks. So why are you up so late again tonight?  
  
J-man: Oh I got a new job and I am just doin a bit of research for it.  
  
Takara: That must stink having to move from job to job.   
  
J-man: Actually the coming part is not that bad it is just the leaving that stinks.   
  
Takara: Well I had better get back to bed I went to shut off my PC and you were on so I am going to go back to bed so that I will not be completely zonked tomorrow. .Huh we are supposed to get a brad new substitute that no one has had before in our school.   
  
J-man: Ok I guess I will talk to you tomorrow  
  
Jarod busted out laughing at Kara's last statement.   
  
The next day  
  
Psychology room 118  
  
Turtle Bay Jr. Sr. High School  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"Good morning class. My name is Ja.. Uh.. Mr. Port."   
  
TBC  
  
A/N Hey what do you guys think? Do you like it hate it? Tell me! BTW this story does have a Center part in it. It will probably be in the next chapter. Please R&R because I have only had like eight reviews for my other stories. I am getting depressed because of it I mean really I put my sweat and blood (eewwee) into the fan fics and then I do not even get to know if you guys like it? Please tell me! R&R!! 


	2. Down Hill

Disclaimer: What do we really own in life? I mean really own? Our houses can always be taken from the bank our cars can be impounded; even our kids can be taken from us for reasons (not that I am old enough to have a house or anything). If we cant own anything of our own then what makes you think that we can own characters like the pretender? Haha sorry I just had to get that out. *looks around to see people cryin* aww don't take it too hard. I don't own anybody but Kara... yes even the other kids all I did was take personalities of people I knew and I muddled their names up. I do own Turtle Bay Jr. Sr. High though! Hey I own my own school! Haha  
  
A/N oh and btw I want to tell you guys that I am gonna put some of my theories at the beginning of each chapter, I based this story on them and I think that you might be able to understand Kara better with them. A big thanx to ShadowElfBard for letting me use her plot kinda (btw read her stories they are really good!) and for reviewing my story, to Ann thanx to you too for reading and reviewing my story. Last but not least thanx to pretender-gurl and I am sorry that Jarod met up with Kara on the net but I had to do it that way you will see why later. On with the story. Please read and review. It makes my day when I come home to see reviews before my very eyes. Oh and if the high school seems kinda small it is because I have never been in a big high school. My high school is really small and I know that high schools are supposed to have more than one floor but ours doesn't. On with the fic please R&R!  
  
Theory of the chapter: Society molds us into what we are. If we lived all alone our outlook on life would be different. Every single thing that we believe is good or bad creates a chain effect that turns us into what we are whether we want it or not. (Don't worry if you don't understand) -By me! (Pretender Fanatic)  
  
6th period (there are only eight periods in the day and 6th is right before lunch)  
  
Psychology Room 118  
  
Turtle Bay Jr. Sr. High School  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
A group of kids burst into the room laughing and giggling. Jarod heard snatches of their conversation as they walked to their seats.   
  
"So what are the originals?"   
  
"Haha they're us. We have been friends since third grade. Do you ever notice how we can always fall back on each other?"  
  
"Yeah but I mean who are all the originals?"  
  
"Well there is Me, you, Maggie, Resse, Leah, and Dom."   
  
"Isn't it kinda weird how the school board always put us in the same classes? I mean except for that year that Di was in the other fifth grade class we were always together."  
  
"Haha that's cause they do it by IQ Resse. If you are smart you go in the A class everybody else goes to the B class that way they challenge all of us."  
  
Jarod decided to take this time to calm down the class. He walk over to his desk and sat on the top of it. "Good after noon class. My name it Mr. Port. I will be taking over for Mrs. Marcony while she has her toncells being taken out. She left me with a note that we should debate the pros and cons of mind control." After Jarod took rule they started the debate. He paid close attention to the girl known to all as Kara, the girl he meet online. She was unusually tall for her age. He noticed her shoulder length brown hair was layered towards her face. She wore a tight black tank top and a pair of dark blue flares that were a tad too short for her. She had a choker on that had turtle charm in the middle of it surrounded by some black and silver beads. When she laughed her whole face showed her merriment. Jarod's eyes slowly roamed around the class.   
  
He had reason to believe that The Center had something to do with this school. There was a child in here, as far as Jarod could figure out that was in eighth grade, that The Center was exploiting for one of their projects. When Jarod looked into the project he was mortified. They were injecting one of the children with animal chromosomes, wolf chromosomes to be more precise. Apparently stress had something to do with the splitting and adaptation of the chromosomes to the body and so they injected the kid and then tried to erase their memory about the whole episode. Jarod was trying to find the kid before The Center decided to kidnap them once the transformation was complete. From what Jarod gathered it would take about two months for the transformation to be complete. Even though the child would have some outward differences it would mostly be on the inside dealing with their muscles and their reaction time. Jarod took this job so that he could find the child and find a way to keep The Center off their tails. Jarod came back to reality seconds later to a girl in the back raising her hand high in the air.   
  
"Uh yes... Erica? Do you have an opinion on the topic?"   
  
Erica cleared her throat and spoke her part. "Mind control would be good. Like in the book The Giver. If everybody was under mind control the government could control the more dangerous aspects of their personalities and we could still be ourselves."  
  
"Let me guess you want to grow up to work for the government?" Jarod cocked an eyebrow at Erica. The whole class snickered knowing that the substitute was right.  
  
"On the contrary. If we do use mind control people would be forced to make decisions they normally wont make. Every moral that we have makes up who we are if you take away one of those morals such as thoughts about killing then you alter all of the other morals." Kara said. The class continued to debate back and forth. Everybody got their say and both sides had good points. Jarod noted all the people against mind control were what he heard described as the six originals. He had an odd feeling about those kids. They seemed to be good friends. Maybe one of them was the kid that he was looking for. He made a mental note to look up their files later on. His computer beeped and he looked over at it. (He had brought it to school so he would not have to use Mrs. Marcony's computer) He saw that he had an e-mail. Puzzled, Jarod clicked on his inbox and sighed when he saw the e-mail was from Argyle. It read:  
  
Hey J-man,  
  
Uh well to make this short I am in a bit of trouble. You see those gang members that you busted last week, well apparently the leader had a son that you looked over. Now they are in town looking for you. I thought I should let you know.   
  
Argyle  
  
Jarod laughed out loud at Argyle's apprehensiveness. He knew that the gang members would not find them because he went under the nickname J-dawg when he was a gangster. Nobody knew his real name. ( name complements of Argyle) Just as he was about to close the e-mail Takara walked up beside him. She took a glance at the computer then continued to ask her question. "Uh, Mrs. Marcony said that our theories on life were due today. Do you want them?"   
  
Jarod nodded his head and stood up. "Yeah I'll take them. Mrs. Marcony will be out for at least a week so I guess that I will grade them."   
  
Jarod went around and collected all of the papers from the kids. % These will help me narrow down my search for the kid even more. %   
  
9:30 PM  
  
Two days later  
  
Jarod's Hide out  
  
Dover, Delaware  
  
Jarod had gone over all of the theory papers with a fine toothed comb. So far he had found three papers that looked like they had potential to be pretenders. Oddly enough they were all papers of the kids that Takara had called the originals. He had looked at all over their grades and found nothing too out of the ordinary. Reese had had really high grades all of his life and Maggie had had fairly high grades starting in forth grade. Takara had had high really grades until forth grade and then dropped off to just plan high grades. Jarod was leaning towards Resse being the kid but something felt weird about it. From what he gathered Resse worked on his school work all the time. If he was a pretender he would not have to work so hard on his work. So that left Maggie and Takara. Jarod found out during the past two days that Maggie and Kara were really good friends and had been so since third grade. Kara seemed pretty quiet in all of her other classes unless they were with her friends then she tended to be a bit louder. Just then Jarod turned around to see that Kara was on the Internet for the first time in two days. He got on and started talkin to her thinking that maybe he could get some info out of her that might help to solve his problem.   
  
J-man: Hey what's up? You haven't been on in awhile.  
  
Takara: Hi... Mr. Port *grins triumphantly*   
  
J-man: Haha So how did you figure out?  
  
Takara: *grins shyly* well when I came up to ask you a question a few days ago I saw that you had an e-mail open and it was addressed to J-man... You're not really a teacher are you?   
  
J-man: No I'm not but I could be fully qualified if I wanted to be.  
  
Takara: You just don't want to be because of those people that are after you right?  
  
J-man: Yeah... Kara... you said that you have been havin head aches lately right?  
  
Takara: Yeah for about two months now why?  
  
Suddenly it dawned on Jarod. He typed a reply almost as fast as Kara's message appeared on his screen.   
  
J-man: Kara stay in the house. Don't go anywhere. You are in danger. Stay where you are I am coming over.   
  
Jarod got off the computer and speed the whole way to Blue Cove.   
  
Kara sat at her computer perplexed. Twenty minutes later. She sensed someone else in the house. Her mother was at work so she knew that is was not her. She also knew that Mr. Port would probably knock. She got out of her chair and slowly walked towards the door. She opened the door ever so carefully and crept out into the hallway. She snuck down stairs and over to the living room. All of her senses were tuned and her guard was up. As she stuck her head into the living room someone grabbed her from behind. A voice whispered into her ear bearly audible.   
  
"Hello Takara." She growled at this. The voice was the voice from her nightmare. She did not know what do. She let out a deep rumbling growl as he started to caress her hair ever so slightly. She elbowed him in the stomach and as he released his grip on her with a grunt she ran to the front door and zipped out into the front lawn. As she ran into the woods. She heard people yelling and the sound of car tires squealing to a halt. She turned around to see Mr. Port jump out of his car. To her surprise some of the men that were yelling started to advance on him. Terror filled Mr. Ports eyes as he looked around for her. She screamed his name but some one put their hand across her mouth muffling her cry. Jarod heard none the less and looked up at her. He looked past her and yelled.  
  
"Lyle let her go it is me you want." He said as he pulled a gun out of his leather jacket. The man that now had the name Lyle laughed back.  
  
"Nah we want both of you." Just as she was about to attack Lyle in attempt to get free from his grip she felt a numbing blow to her head and her world became one sheet of unending darkness.   
  
TBC  
  
A/n thanx for all of the lovely reviews. I will try to update real soon. SFAM (sorry for any mistakes) I love this story. I really do. So in other words that mean that I will be writing more soon. 


	3. Where am I

Disclaimer: Hehe I have James Denton (Lyle) on my desktop. That is the only thing that I have that has anything to do with The Pretender. (I know I am bad for not having my whole room covered in it but the posters cost so much!) So obviously I don't own them. No infringement is intended. (I learn so much from fan fics… like what infringement means!) Please don't so. (It's not worth your time)  
  
A/N Hehe (I am just in a laughing sort of mood tonight) I want to thank everyone who has been reviewing. You help me out a lot with my writing and it just makes my day knowing that someone out there likes my stuff. Haha (there I go again laughing) I am gonna keep this a/n short cause I have three theories for you guys this time.  
  
P.S sorry that this took so long to update guys. You see my puter decided it hated me and after about thirty min. of working on it the screen would go black and I had to turn it off for like two hours until it decided to forgive me. I thought that it was a virus so I downloaded AVG and it found seven viruses and healed them but my puter still got mad at me and would turn off. I don't know what is wrong with it but I figured out that if I do not scream at it, sing to my music, pound on it, or get mad then it will stay on, but it is still teasing me by makin the screen darken and then brighten. So fyi this chapter should have been up a week ago. I am sorry please forgive me.   
  
Theory of the chapter # 1: You can not begin to understand someone until you understand that you don't understand them at all. -me (Pretender Fanatic)  
  
Theory of the chapter # 2: Sometimes adults need to keep child like traits such as humbleness - also by me (Pretender Fanatic)  
  
Theory of the chapter #3 (one more to go) - Truth? What is the truth, eh? Just a pack o' lies made up by otherbeasts so you'll believe 'em. - Written by Brain Jacques (not mine) said by Nimbalo (also not mine) In the book Taggerung (I didn't write it but it is a good book. Brian Jacques wrote it)   
  
A/n now on to the story!! Attack… go for the throats!! Heheh (more laughter) Sorry that I did not get this up sooner but I could not decide on who I wanted captured and when so… but you guys understand! *smiles*   
  
10:00 PM  
  
In Front of Takara's house   
  
George Hill Rd.   
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
Jarod saw Lyle hit Kara over the head. %There was no way that I can get out of here with Kara being unconscious. I can get out of here now and save her later or I could get caught and get us both out of The Center later on. I would have a better chance getting her out with me on the outside because I don't know for sure where they are taking her. % Jarod choose the former and started running. If he took his car than they would try to run him off the road and end up hurting people. This way he had a better chance of getting out of here in on piece. The sweepers sat there looking dumb.   
  
"Don't just stand there! Get him!" Lyle yelled for a few yards away. Some sweepers started running, others got into their cars hoping to cut Jarod off somewhere, still others stayed and fired their weapons. Lyle saw Jarod stumble and a heard a sweeper announce that he had shot him in the thigh. Lyle smiled knowing that Jarod would leave a blood trail and that he could not cover it up that easily.   
  
Jarod stumbled but kept his balance. His face contorted in pain but he continued to run. He knew someone who could keep him safe near by. He just had to get two blocks. Suddenly a black car sped around the corner in front of Jarod. He grunted in pain as he changed directions. He stumbled through an alley and around the back of a building, hoping to throw the sweepers off his trail. He ran into the building and out the other side. %Only one more block to go % He ran down the street in full view. His leg started to cramp on him and he knew that he could not make it very much farther. Just when he thought that he could not go any farther and that The Center just might get him back, he rounded the corner to run slap-bang into his friend.   
  
"Jarod!?"  
  
"Hey long time no see Josh," Jarod joked weakly.   
  
"What happened to you man you look horrible!?"   
  
"Let's just saw that some people are after me. No time to explain. We need to get out of here and somewhere safe," Jarod gasped while trying to regain his breath.   
  
"Ok let's go to my house. Do you think that you could make it that far?" Josh asked seeing the big bloody mess that was now Jarod's leg.   
  
Jarod started to limp rather quickly. "I guess I'm gonna have to."   
  
The two men walked rather oddly (Josh is only a few inches shorter than Jarod) to a house five driveways away. Josh opened the door and Jarod staggered in. Jarod closed the door and locked it. He slid down with his back against the door still breathing heavily. Josh paced in front of Jarod wringing his hands, not sure what to do to help his friend. Finally Jarod caught his breath somewhat and asked Josh if he had some pliers and a bottle of painkillers and some towels. Josh returned moments later with the stuff. Jarod took the bottle of Ibuprofen and swallowed half of the bottle.   
  
"Hey man are you sure you should do that?" Josh asked worriedly while running his fingers through his short spiky brown hair nervously.   
  
"It won't hurt me. It will only feel tingly." Jarod mumbled as he inspected the wound on the side of his lower thigh. Jarod leaned back against the door waiting for the painkillers to do their work. Fifteen minutes later he picked up the pliers and went to work. He put the towel in his mouth and bite down hard. Then he put the pliers into the hole in his leg and fished out the bullet. He pulled it out and quickly took the towel out of his mouth and put it on his wound.   
  
"Do you have something I can use to keep this on?" asked Jarod nodding towards the towel rapped around his leg. Josh got up disappeared. He came back holding a roll of gauze. Jarod rapped his leg and got up to limp over to Josh's couch.   
  
"So who shot you?" Asked Josh wanting to know the whole story behind this. % he deserves to know I should tell him. After all if it were not for him I would be back at The Center right now. %  
  
"Josh my last name is not Kindler and I am not really a cop"  
  
12:00 Midnight  
  
Sim Lab  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove Delaware  
  
Takara awoke with the sense that someone was close to her, too close. She opened her eyes, and there was Lyle inches away from her face. She turned away in disgust the greedy look on his face.   
  
Lyle backed away. "Welcome back to the world of the living."   
  
"Kara stared at him. "I know you," she said completely puzzled as to how she had seen him in her dreams. The grin that was on Lyle's face quickly dissipated and was replaced with a look of anger.   
  
"You weren't supposed to remember."   
  
"Remember what exactly?" Kara asked in a tone that said she remembered 'it' but not all of 'it'.   
  
Lyle's grin returned at this statement. "You are a pretender, a genius that can become whatever or whoever you want to be. We kidnapped you one night, and injected you with wolf chromosomes. We wanted to see what would happen. We had to you back seeing as being in an unnatural environment would have ruined the experiment. Now that you are fully transformed we kidnapped you again, for good."  
  
"How can you tell that I am completely mutated?" Lyle handed Kara a mirror. Kara looked at herself in he mirror and to her horror her normal dark brown eyes were now yellow, like a wolf's eye. The teeth beside her three front teeth were also different. They were pointed slightly. They were not any longer than the rest of her teeth, just sharper. While she was asleep they had cut her hair and now she had short spiky hair that would not get in her face. To her surprise her hair also had a hint of red in it, just like the hide of a wolf. She looked at her hands and she now had thick nails that were now longer short.   
  
"So what do you want with me? You must have a reason for doin this." Lyle looked at Kara and his grin widened.   
  
"I don't think that I should tell you that… at least not yet."  
  
"Huh where have I heard that before?"  
  
"First you will do some test for us. If we think for a second that you are not trying your hardest you will be punished… severely." With that Lyle walked out of the room. Kara was lead out shortly after into another room full of exercise equipment.   
  
Four hours later  
  
Sim lab 201 (Set to look like a forest)  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
Kara crouched on all fours behind a large oak tree. The crackle dried leaves being crushed under foot reached her ears. She sniffed the air and caught the faint scent of a human. % What? A human!? Since when have I called my own species human? % She had little more time to think as the hairs on the back of her neck rose. She crouched farther down, ready to pounce. An object passed an she leaped onto it's back she sensed another human behind her and she quickly revoked her attack and jumped to the side using the guy in front of her as a push off point. She landed softly on all fours and took stock of her situation two men with guns stood before her. % Can't mess with guns % She ran behind the closest tree and scaled it. With out missing a beat she grabbed one of the men and hit him over the head. She lowered him to the ground and ran a few feet to her right. Just had just reached a clump of bushes when the guys that was still conscious turned around to see her and opened fire. Kara jumped at the sound of the gun but kept her cool. She rolled into a depression. She continued her roll until she got behind another tree undetected. The man walked over to the depression where Kara had disappeared. When he passed the tree Kara's leg shot out and gave him a resounding crack in the ribs. He fell to the floor groaning and Kara relieved him of his gun. Seconds later the lights turned on to blind Kara. She shook her head a few times and her vision cleared. Before her stood Dr. Bo who had put her through all of these tests.   
  
"Very good Takara."  
  
"Huh" Kara looked around not interested in what the doctor was saying about her and her abilities. The whole place was one big simulated forest. % I wouldn't mind if this was where they kept me. Lots of room to run and waste energy. % Of course Kara knew that they would not keep her here. It would be too hard to catch her if she did not want to be caught. The doctor finished his rambling and ordered the dudes in decked out in black to take her to her new room. Before they did thought the doctor had one more test for her.   
  
"Kara I want you to read this file. It is the file of a psychotic killer. I want you to become him and tell me what and how he thinks. I will let you go to your room while you study it but I will have my assistant, Kenya, come and monitor you. Do you think that you can do this?"  
  
Kara gave him a look. "What? Zoning out? Yeah I can do it." Kara liked Dr. Bo. If you saw him on the streets you would not think of a doctor. He had muscles that Kara was sure he had to work hard for. His glasses were small and round. He was about five eleven and had short black hair. % I bet that he was able to smile at one time or another % Kara thought. With that Kara was lead out of the room and down the hall to a small cell like room. She walked in with a young lady about the age of twenty and the sweepers shut the door.   
  
Ten Minutes later  
  
Kara's New Room  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
  
  
"Concentrate Kara. Become the killer. Imagine him as if he were in your body."  
  
Kara's eyes focussed and she looked up to stare at Kenya. "Shut up."  
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
"Look you want me to do this zoning out thing and I think I know how, but you have to shut up. I can't do anything with you chatterin away."   
  
Kenya walked over to the other side of the room in a huff and sat down. Kara sat in the corner farthest away from the door, her legs Indian style. Once Kenya walked over to the other side of the room Kara's eyes unfocussed again and she stared at a spot just a touch below and to the right of straight in front of her.   
  
Kara let her mind wonder again. She had this killer or who ever he was already figured out. She wanted to make sure that she did it right though so she digged deeper into his personality. She kinda felt sorry for this guy. He knew what he was doing was wrong but he was desperate. Just as Kara was about to let her mind wonder back out of the world that she had created for this man She heard a beep and almost jumped out of her skin, and Lyle walked in to the room.   
  
% haha little does he no that the best way to get me in a bad mood is snapping me out of zoning out like that instead of lettin me come out of it myself. Then to top it off having a door that makes noises like an alarm clock I bound to irritate me as well. % Lyle walked over to Kara.   
  
"Did you try your hardest on the test?" He asked as if scolding a young child.  
  
"Well considering it was a lose lose situation I'd like to think I tried my hardest."   
  
"Well I am going to go get the reports now so we shall see won't we?" Lyle walked out of the room with Kenya following. As soon as they left Kara burst out laughing. She did not know why but Kenya had the oddest look on her face when Kara had told her to shut up and now she was in a huff.   
  
5:00 am  
  
Dr. Bo's office  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
Lyle strutted into Dr. Bo's office flanked by four sweepers.   
  
"So Dr. what are your results about Kara?" Bo pulled out a file and handed it to Lyle While Lyle skimmed over it Bo stated more in depth about what was inside the file.   
  
"Kara's bones have gotten lighter as well as stronger. Her muscles can endure more. She has more energy, and agility as well as sharpened senses. Her toes have become longer to enable her to have more balance. Her leg bones have shortened to enable her to stay in a crouch longer with little to no cramping in quads. Her blood vessels have also gone deeper into her body to keep her warmer. Her love for animals has made the transformation easier, because without realizing it she has been siming animals as well as humans all her life. Any time that she wondered what they thought she would go into sim mode. There are some side affects too. Her temper is bound to be short at all times. We are lucky that she is very patient to being with. Her blood has also been messed up. She will get light headed very easily and will feel the pain of gravity starting at the estimate of 100 ft. This well make riding in planes difficult, but we think that if she is able to reach a state of semi consciousness by her on free will while in the plane she will be fine for the most part."  
  
Lyle looked up at the end of the report.   
  
"Is that all"  
  
Dr. Bo nodded  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
"Fine then. Let's go."  
  
Lyle walked out of the room with the sweepers following like do anything for love, ankle biter puppies.   
  
Midnight  
  
Josh's house  
  
Maple Nut Drive  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"Ok so you are a genius and when you were young people from a secret organization called The Center kidnapped you and exploited your abilities for profits? When you found out you escaped and now you are on the run from them? Huh huh wow, that is… weird."   
  
Just then Jarod's cell phone rang. Jarod answered to find Argyle on the other line.   
  
"Hey man, It is late where are you?"  
  
"Huh ran into a little trouble, Argyle I need you to bring me my stuff. Don't use my duffel bag. Throw that one out. Check out and come to 463 Maple Nut Drive. Then I want to you to go home."  
  
"Hey J-man if you're in some trouble I can help."  
  
"Just bring me my stuff then you can hear the full story. OH and Argyle, please don't look too conspicuous.   
  
Jarod hung up his phone and turned back to Josh who was pacing once more, his hard muscular body moving smoothly back and forth across the floor.   
  
"So what do you do now?"  
  
"We wait."  
  
A/n ok guys please read and review. (huhhuh duh you already read *smakes her self on the head*) ahhhhh!!! Dang it my screen is turning black!! And I as almost done too! Wah!!!  
  
Two Hours later  
  
OK so back to what I was saying before my puter went and committed suicide. *glares at the puter* I was wondering I wanted to do a Pretender Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle crossover but I was not sure whether I should have Kara involved or not. (Minimal knowledge of TMNT will be needed) I was going to do a crossover with just Jarod and the turtles but now that I have really gotten into this story I was not sure whether or not using Kara in my next fan fic would be over using her or not. So please tell me what you think about it either via e-mail or in your reviews thanx bunches. Chapie Four up soon. (I hope) 


	4. Dun dun dun!

Disclaimer: I don't even own pretender figurines (I wonder if they even make those) I highly doubt that I could even so much as pretend to own anything that deals with The Pretender. No infringement is intended.   
  
A/N man guys Christmas was great! (I think my uncle thought I was nuts when he saw how happy I was when he gave me leather work gloves) I didn't get any Pretender stuff but I didn't put it on my list so I can see why I didn't get any. I am really sorry about my updates being sooo slow but my computer hates me and about every two hours or so my screen will turn black and then I can not see what I am doing so I will try to get the next chapters up ASAP but it will not be as quick as it would have been had my puter been working right.  
  
Theory of the chapter #1: You tell me to reach to the stars but how can I when all my stars have fallen? - unknown  
  
P.S. it may sound like I am really pessimistic but I am not really I am actually very perky and happy honestly!  
  
Theory of the chapter #2: What happens at deer camp stays in deer camp- Rebecca Zischkau Ryan Harmen Arthur McDonald   
  
FYI: Takara means treasure and that is why I picked that name for my main character  
  
Definition of the chapter: Feign: -v- to put on a false appearance of; PRETEND; SIMULATE   
  
P.S. no reason for this definition. I just thought that it was cool because it had pretend and simulate right beside each other. (Don't worry I don't read the dictionary or anything, it was vocab. Now... ON with the story!!!!!  
  
6:00 am  
  
Josh's living room  
  
Maple Nut Drive  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
There was a squealing of tires and a loud crash as a yellow Chevy Caviler pulled into Josh's driveway, tried to break and crashed into the trash cans waiting to be put on the side of the road to be picked up. Argyle jumped out and ran to the door. Before he could knock Jarod swung the door open, glaring at him.   
  
" Way to be conspicuous Argyle." Jarod turned to Josh. "Josh this is Argyle. Argyle this is Josh I met him when I was doing a pretend as a cop." Argyle looked at Josh. He was probably in his mid twenties and had short spiky dark brown hair. He was muscular and by the badge that he wore on his belt Argyle figure that he was a cop. "You know how I started that new pretend as a substitute to find the kid that The Center was using as their latest project?" Argyle nodded. "Well her name is Takara and The Center kidnapped her. I went to her house when I figured out that she was the one, but The Center beat me there by a few seconds. I had to make a run for it seeing as they already had Kara and one of Lyle's goons shot me in the leg." Jarod nodded towards his leg, which he had propped up on Josh's coffee table.   
  
"So what are you going to do now?" Asked Argyle.  
  
"Well first I have to find Kara's mom, apparently her dad was killed in a drive by shooting before Kara was born. It does not look like she has any other relatives that are still living. Both her parents were only children. Now Kara's mom is going to be targeted by The Center. I have to find her before The Center does." Jarod took his duffle bag from Argyle, which Argyle had bought a NASCAR racing bag instead, and pulled out his laptop. As he hooked it up to Josh's phone line Argyle turned on the TV. Jarod was about to yell at him when he heard him yell.   
  
"Hey J-man I think that you should see this." Jarod limped into the entertainment room where the news was on. The screen showed footage of what used to be a car. A reporter stood in front of it while paramedics and cops scurried around in the back round.   
  
"Jocelyn Stevens died a few hours ago when an unmarked car ran her off the road. Her car flipped five times before landing upside down 100 meters off the road in this valley."  
  
The report babbled on about something else but Jarod did not hear it.  
  
"Dang it. That was Kara's mom." Jarod shuffled back to his computer where he booted up to the net. % Another life taken by The Center. They are going to pay. % Jarod broke into the Center mainframe to see what he could find about where they were keeping Kara. Now it was up to him to keep her safe.   
  
9:00 am  
  
Dr. Bo's office  
  
The Center   
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
Lyle strolled into Dr. Bo's office holding a folder. There was a question that had been bugging him all night. Without looking up from the folder that he was looking at Lyle asked his question.   
  
"Dr. Bo, I was looking at Kara's school grades and there is something that troubles me. Her grades are high but there are higher in the school. Aren't pretenders supposed to be geniuses?" Lyle handed the folder that he was looking at which was apparently Kara's grades over to Dr. Bo.  
  
"From what I understand pretenders can become whatever they want to be. Kara had high grades when she was little but after that her grades went down to just being a normal high, not an abnormal high. I think that she pretended to be a child of lower IQ when she was in school with out reliseing it. She did not want to be singled out of the group so she made her own pretend where she brought herself down to the think like the kids she was surrounded by. I also think that some of her friends may be useful to us as well. You see there is a group of friends that she has been with since she was in third grade. When people spend enough time with one another they start to like many of the same things as well as thinking in the same manner. If you look at the grades of her closest friends, they have risen since they met her. I think that they are starting to think partially like pretenders, especially her friend Maggie Malone."   
  
"I will think about this new revelation thank you Dr. Bo. Oh and by the way. I am putting you in charge of Kara."  
  
10:00 am   
  
Kara's cell  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware   
  
Kara looked at the mush that one of the sweepers had pushed under the door. % I think they want me to eat it % Kara took the spoon and dipped it into the red liquid in the bowl in front of her. She lifted the spoon and let the concoction drip off of it. % Yuck! I don't care if they want me to eat it or not. There is now way I am letting that stuff go down my throat % Kara took the glass of water from the tray gulped it down, placed it back on the tray and slid it back under the door. She heard someone trip and fall and then swearing. Kara giggled. From what she gathered when she pushed the tray out the door someone had been walking by, and tripped over it. Chances are they would be covered in the nasty stuff. The door beeped and Kara jumped a bit again. % Man I hate that infernal beeping. Every time I hear it I think that it is my alarm clock and I have to get up and go to school. % Kara quickly stopped laughing and downgraded her merriment to a big cocky grin. A soggy Dr. Bo walked into the room with a glare in his eye directed towards Kara but he also had a glimmer of merriment hide behind the anger.   
  
"You really should eat your food you know." He said as he pulled a chair over to the bed that Kara was sitting on.   
  
"Oops." Kara said insincerely as she let another giggle slip forth. "There is no way that I am eating that stuff. Man if I ate that chances are I would die of poising."   
  
"Alright what do you want to eat then." Kara's grin broadened.   
  
"Deer meat. Rare as you can get it deer venison." Dr. Bo laughed.  
  
"Cravings for meat. Huumm"  
  
"No I have always loved deer meat. Not necessarily rare but I have always loved it, compared to the nasty beef that is supposed to be good for you that stores sell. Dr. Bo laughed some more.  
  
"What part of the deer do you want?"  
  
"Tenderloin?" Kara asked hopefully. Dr. Bo got up with an amused grin on his face.   
  
"It shall be done. They should give you a lot meat any ways."   
  
Minutes later Dr. Bo came back with a tray. He handed it to Kara.   
  
"Cool." Said Kara as she surveyed what was on the tray. % Corn, Tenderloin, peaches, juice, I can deal with that % She tucked in as Dr. Bo tried to start a conversation.   
  
"You don't seem bent on escaping or not doing what you are told here. Why?"  
  
"I haven't seen any ways to escape yet nor have I been told to do anything that I do not want to do. Had I been told to do something I did not want to do you would definitely know it." Kara said as she woofed down her food.   
  
"I could tell Mr. Lyle that."  
  
"But you won't"  
  
"Why wouldn't I?"  
  
"Because if you wanted to tell him then you would have made me eat that other junk and you would have gotten mad when you tripped over tray."  
  
"Maybe so, do you relies that there might be cameras in here?"  
  
"But there's not"  
  
"How can you be sure?"  
  
"It would have inhibited my, what you guys call simulations, what I call zoning out. I would not have felt comfortable with the cameras on me and therefore the out comes of the problems you guys gave me would be different."  
  
Dr. Bo leaned over and looked Kara in the eye. Kara stopped eating and looked back at him.   
  
"Why are you telling me all of this? I could easily use it against you."  
  
"I trust you. You don't want to be here. You got tricked into this and for some reason you cannot leave. You have no choice in what you do. If there was something that I thought would be dangerous to tell you then I would not tell you, simple as that. "  
  
Dr. Bo laughed.   
  
"Yeah as simple as that." Kara finished her breakfast and went over to the door with her tray. She stooped down and waited. Suddenly she thrust the tray out of the slot. There was a crash and some muttering. Kara giggled evilly again.   
  
"You know you really shouldn't so that"  
  
"Oh but it's fun. Just wait till I get that Lyle dude walking by when I do that"   
  
"That might end up causing you some pain if you hurt Lyle"  
  
"Pain can only be so great then after that it is just a matter of time before the pain slacks off. I have already felt the greatest pain and it I can handle it. Anyways, getting in trouble makes things fun and interesting:"   
  
"What ever you say." Said Dr. Bo as he walked over to the door, put his eyes next to the retina scanner and stepped back as the door opened.   
  
"I will be back later on to take you to the sim lab. Be ready. Mr. Lyle is gonna be there." Kara's eyes glinted dangerously.  
  
"Don't worry I will be."  
  
A/N oh oh oh I like this Chapter and how I made Dr. Bo and Kara friends!! Oh I really liked that! It was sooo fun. I especially liked tripping Dr. Bo with the tray, and the sweeper that went by too!! This chapter was so much fun to write. Unfortunately my computer decided that it was going to take a step up on the make Pretender Fanatic mad scale and is turning off less expectedly so that I cannot save my work before the screen turns black. So now I am on my mom's computer typing, but the new cd's that I got for Christmas make it bearable. I tried a new monitor but imagine this! An ms. Dos monitor is not compatible with a windows 95 computer! Who would have thought!! So now I have to buy a new monitor I think and that is going to put me in debt a great deal. I am going to try to update soon but I have been spending my Christmas vacation screaming and kicking my puter so I am kinda busy *grins* Please review. Cuz I really need some good news. (I kinda figured out after rereading Gemini I that it is not as good as I wanted it to be, so now I am bummed out) 


	5. What would you do for them?

Disclaimer: I don't own it because pretty much every thing that I own fits in my room and I don't think that Lyle would enjoy being locked in my cupboard.   
  
  
  
Writer's tab: hehe. I am sorry guys but I feel it is my duty to add an author's note because you guys need to know some stuff that I missed and you should not have to go back a reread a chapter just because I screwed up and had to reload it. It is not fair to you guys so I am gonna continue with this.   
  
I am sorry that I did not add anybody else from The Center yet but they don't know about Kara. I will try to add them sometime but Ihave never written a fan fic with Miss. Parker's wrath for any period of time so...   
  
2:00 pm  
  
Sim Lab  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware   
  
Lyle turned to face the door as it beeped. Kara walked in with two sweepers either side of her. She had chosen to go voluntarily seeing as it would have been a disgrace to have them drag her.   
  
"Hello, We want you to help us with something. Our company has some... clients, which are in need of your services. One of my... colleges wanted to have you do simulations for them right off the bat. The simulations involve becoming murderers and planning terrorists attacks."  
  
Lyle dramatically mouthed the word no at the moment that Kara said it out loud.  
  
"I said that we should take care of our own needs first. You see not many pretenders exist in this world. Let alone natural pretenders. When you were on the outside you had contact with people, normal people. You are young and are still learning and being sculpted into what you are, as are your peers. Friends have great power over one another you know. Once they reach a certain level at their friendship they can make one another do things. They can usually have a great deal to do with how a person acts too... as well as IQ."  
  
Kara's heart froze at this. She knew that whatever has going to happen next was not good.   
  
"We believe that some of your closest friends now have pretender potential because of you. We wanted to know how that works. Therefore seeing as you could not go to your friends we brought them to you."   
  
Lyle's smiled so big that Kara swore that his face was going to crack, but she couldn't worry about that right now because Lyle snapped his fingers and the group of friends that called themselves the originals were dragged in. % None of them look scared, just worried and confused and maybe just a little bit angry. % Kara's eyes burned hatred towards Lyle. She was afraid that if she said anything thing that Lyle would be able to use it against her.   
  
"Take them all to sim lab twenty." Lyle walked off as Kara's friends started to apprehensively walk towards her.  
  
"Kara what is this?" Asked Maggie once they got over to Kara.  
  
"I will explain later. Let's not talk until they take us to the sim lab."   
  
Kara's friends tensed as the sweepers walked over.   
  
"Don't struggle. They won't hurt you unless you don't cooperate."   
  
They friends were led out of the room and up to sim lab twenty.  
  
2:30 pm  
  
Sim Lab 20  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"So what is all of this. All I know is that I was in my bed one second and in a car with a hood over my head the next second.." Said Leah as she looked around the sim lab.  
  
"Before I say anything let's find out how many cameras are in this room." Said Kara as she walked around looking up to the ceiling and down to the floor.   
  
By the time they were done they had found four cameras.   
  
"I don't know way they want us here. All I know is that apparently I am a Pretender a genius that can become any body they want to be. This corporation or whatever kidnapped me one night and injected me with wolf chromosomes. Hence the reason for the teeth, hair, nails, and eyes. They tried to erase my memory about it seeing as it would have affected the transformation. Now that the transformation is complete they kidnapped me for good. They brought you guys here because they think that me being a pretender has rubbed off on you."  
  
"So they are watching us to see how we react together."  
  
"Then chances are they are going to give us IQ test or somethin dumb like that"  
  
"There is no way that they are going to keep us together at night is there? I mean it would be too easy for us all to escape if we ever found a way."  
  
"No I think that they will let you guys stay together for the time being. It would have affects on all of you if you got put in your own cells."  
  
"But what about you Kara. What are they going to do with you?"  
  
"I'm not sure I want to know."  
  
The next day 10:00 am  
  
Josh's house  
  
Maple Nut Drive  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"The disappearances of six local children has authorities stumped. Resse Cooperson, Leah Tomsom, Diana Fisher, Kara Stevens, Dominic Fletcher, and Maggie Malone were all found missing late last night. The police have not come up with any evidence that could even give a clue as to whether this was a kidnapping or just kids being kids."  
  
""Those are Kara's friends that are missing." Said Jarod as he motioned his hand towards the TV. Argyle had gone home after much protesting and now it was just Josh and Jarod. Josh was working on finding any files from the school records about the kids. Jarod was on his laptop breaking into The Center mainframe try to find out about where they were keeping Kara and the others.  
  
After about two hours of frustrating dead ends and paths that led nowhere Jarod announced that he had found them. Josh rushed over.  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
"Sub level 25 Corridor 12 rooms 210 and 213."   
  
"So how are we going to get them out?" Jarod got up, limped to the door and picked up his leather jacket.  
  
"I will do this. If Center operatives figured out that you helped me with this then they would come and kill you. I've been there before and it is better if I go alone."   
  
Josh followed Jarod around the house as Jarod gathered what he needed.   
  
"Jarod you have to get six kids out of there. If you get spotted on your way out then you can't hold everybody off yourself. Besides I don't have a family to stay for and it would eat me up inside knowing that I let you go in there without my help."  
  
Jarod stopped preparing and gave a sigh as he thought about it.   
  
"Ok you can come, but if I tell you to leave then don't ask any questions just go. All right?"  
  
Josh smiled.  
  
"You have yourself a deal."  
  
That night midnight  
  
Kara's room  
  
The Center   
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
Kara looked up as the vent cover in her room started to move. It was kicked in wards and someone jumped down to the floor right in front of her.  
  
"Mr. Port!?"  
  
"Call me Jarod. Do you know how many guards are outside of your room?"  
  
"I think that there are two, but I tripped one of them with a tray just a few minutes ago so there might be only one."   
  
Jarod looked at the retina scanner. % Who would have thought to bring contacts on a rescue. % Jarod boosted Kara into the vent.   
  
"Well I guess we won't have to worry about them anyway."  
  
They crawled down the tunnel until the got to the vent for room 113.   
  
"If my memory serves me right that is a sim lab. Which means that there is a two way mirror."  
  
Jarod took a walkie-talkie from his belt and spook into it. "Josh go up to the main floor there should be a electrical box there. Pull the fifth wire down to the right."  
  
Jarod sat back on his haunches and waited. A few minutes later the room below went black. Jarod kicked in the vent grate and climbed down into the sib lab. He shivered as he looked around. This was the place where he did some of his worst sims. Kara in the mean time had run over to where her friends where sleeping. She shook them all awake.  
  
"Come on guys time to go." 


	6. Sounds of Freedom

At the sound of freedom Kara's friends jumped out of their beds. Ten seconds later the back up generators kicked on.   
  
"We gotta get out of here. At any seconds some of Lyle's goons are gonna come burstin through that door to come and check on you."  
  
Jarod spoke true. A couple of seconds later sweepers rushed in, their 9 millimeters drawn. Jarod pulled his own gun and they stood all facing each other. Willie stepped forward.   
  
"Give it up Jarod there is nine of us and one of you with six kids to back you up. There is no way you are getting out of here."  
  
"This is the police. We have the area surrounded. Nobody move!"  
  
The sweepers scattered. They dropped their guns and ran to who knows where, but boy did they run. Before all the sweepers made it out of the room Jarod was already over at the door punching in the access code.   
  
"If I remember right it is 5838."  
  
The keypad beeped that access was granted and Jarod turned to the kids.   
  
"So are you coming?"  
  
"What about the cops?"   
  
Jarod laughed.   
  
"You'll see."  
  
They ran out the door and down the hall. They stopped right in front of Dr. Bo's office. Jarod picked the lock and everybody packed into the lab.   
  
"This is Dr. Bo's lab."   
  
Informed Kara.   
  
"Vents are bigger here, plus I figured that you guys would like to climb ladders instead of pulling yourself out of holes that are twice your height."  
  
Indeed Jarod was right. The vents were bigger on this side and they did have ladders going all the way up to the main floor. Every once in awhile the group would get off the ladders just to run circles in the vents and get back on, and climb up another level. Once they got to the main lobby the sounds of the police were even more distinct.   
  
"No body move. We have enough information on you guys to put you away for years."   
  
People were running around willy nilly. Jarod ran out the door with the kids following. Once they got out the double doors they turned left following the building. As soon as they rounded the corner they found a man with a tape recorder and a bullhorn. He was smiling fit to burst.  
  
"See I told you having me along would be a good idea. I really didn't tell a lie the whole time because I am the police and I kinda had them surrounded."  
  
Jarod laughed.  
  
"You really did like that didn't you Josh?"  
  
They all ran off at a slightly slower run over to where two vans were waiting. Jarod took three of the kids and Josh took the other three. Leah, Diana, and Dominic piled into Jarod's van while Kara, Resse, and Maggie went with Josh.   
  
"So... Who are you really Mr. Port?" Asked Diana once they were on the road and a safe distance from The Center and after Jarod had stopped looking in the rearview mirror so much.   
  
"Well to make a long story short I am not a teacher and my name is not Mr. Port you can just call me Jarod. The Center is after you guys just like they are after me. I'll help you guys get back to your parents and move to a safer place to live."   
  
Some time later  
  
Jarod's cabin   
  
Just out side of Blue Cove  
  
  
  
"I went to The Center and  
  
Attacked Lyle  
  
Blew up the Tech lab  
  
Caught Lyle   
  
Dumped the Scientists in a garbage bin  
  
Escape time  
  
Follow Jarod, the leader  
  
Got Lyle in a huff  
  
Highjacked a limousine   
  
Insulted the chairman  
  
Got out without a problem  
  
Kept the sweepers at bay  
  
Laughed too hard at them blundering around  
  
Made Lyle lose his job and... let me think oh!  
  
Now let's get out of here!"  
  
Jarod laughed as he stepped out of the van. They had been using the walkie-talkies in the vans to play the alphabet game, which Josh had just introduced Jarod to. The kids had seemed to get along with Jarod and Josh well enough. Jarod was worried about Kara though. He still had yet to tell her that The Center had killed her mother. He didn't want to tell her right now. She was having fun with her regained freedom right now. Jarod would tell her tonight. He didn't want to keep it from her too long. She needed to know. Jarod walked up to the cabin and opened the door. He had been up there not to long ago so the fridge was still stalked with goodies. Everyone walked into the multi purpose as Jarod went over to the freezer.   
  
"Who's hungry?"  
  
Everybody including Josh raised their hands. Jarod laughed and opened the freezer.   
  
"How does ice cream sound?"   
  
Josh laughed as the kids grinned.   
  
"Do you have anything healthy per say?"  
  
"Actually the iron and calcium that you get in..."  
  
Josh held up his hands in defeat.  
  
"Haha ok you win you win! They can have the ice cream."  
  
"Haha good and just to let you know it IS the healthiest thing I have in this place."  
  
Josh raised one eyebrow at Jarod but he wasn't looking. He was busy scooping ice cream. Josh went over to the cupboards and started to open them one by one.   
  
"Dr. Pepper, Twinkies, donuts, brownies, Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch, chips, Mac and Cheese, Chocolate turtles, waffles and Pez lots and lots of Pez. Huh he obviously runs on sugar highs."   
  
11:00 pm That night after everybody was in bed.   
  
Jarod's cabin  
  
Just outside of Blue Cove  
  
Jarod walked out onto the front porch and was surprised to see Kara sitting on the swing to his right.   
  
"I thought you were in bed."  
  
"No lately I have had more energy and I can only sleep about five hours before I wake up fully energized and ready to start my day."  
  
"Well while you are up I have some bad news to tell you. When The Center kidnapped you they killed you mom. They made it look like road rage. I'm sorry."  
  
Kara did not stop from looking up at the stars. Her face did not show any change of expression.   
  
"Sometimes when I was little and I was board in the car I would make up my own little world where the people I loved died tragically. I don't know why I did it. It would make me cry sometimes. I would just imagine car crashes and fires. I thought that it would help me once some one I loved really did die. I guess I was right."  
  
"Aren't you going to cry for your mother?"  
  
"Oh I will sometime or another. I don't know I feel at peace right now and it feels like nothing can destroy that peace. I will cry later on sometime when I am alone and I start to think about her. I do know one thing though. Lyle will meet a horrible death. There is no doubt in my mind that he had something and everything to do with her death. He will die a painful death all alone with no friend to help him."  
  
"Lyle killed my brother I know how it feels to want to take revenge."  
  
"I don't want to take revenge. I don't even wish for Lyle to die. I just know somehow that he will not meet death like a normal human does."  
  
Jarod sat and thought about it. This child was now all alone in the world. He had a family somewhere out there. She didn't have anybody. All her relatives were dead and so were her parents. She had no one to turn to. The Center would still be after her too. She had a lot of Pretender potential from what Jarod had gathered. She could not run by herself. She needed somebody, somebody who could relate.   
  
"The Center will still be after you. They will leave your friends alone but they will still come after you. You will have to keep on running to stay ahead of them."  
  
"I know."  
  
"How would you like to go on the run with me?"  
  
Kara looked at Jarod, hope fluttering in her yellow eyes.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
Kara smiled and Jarod took that as a yes. He got up from the swing and started to walk back into the house.   
  
"Good night Kara."   
  
8:00 am  
  
Jarod's cabin  
  
Just outside of Blue Cove  
  
"Hello Sydney"  
  
"Jarod. You haven't called in awhile"   
  
"Sydney What do you know about project A-dapt?"  
  
"Project A-dapt? I have never heard of that project."  
  
"Well I suggest you find out Sydney."  
  
Jarod hung up.  
  
"Now who wants breakfast?"   
  
Josh shuffled out of the room that Jarod had set him up with along with himself, Dominic, and Resse.   
  
"No more ice cream."  
  
"Nope... Waffles!"   
  
  
  
A/n I am sorry about making Jarod seem so callus about Kara's mom's death but I needed it that way. I am also sorry about not adding a a/n for the last chapter. I forgot but here is one now. (that is what a DON'T ADD A/NS will do for ya :) ) Please review. I need the happiness that I feel when I get a review good or bad! So review please! Thanx! 


	7. On the Road again

Disclaimer: No infringement is intended. (Obviously)  
  
A/N Ok I want you guys to know that after I finish this story that I am going to write a sequel. (tp/ teenage mutant ninja turtle cross over no knowledge of the turtles needed) I think that I am going to call it gifted meets gifted. Don't worry it is not going to be one of those lame Jarod meets the turtles, helps them fight their arch enemy and then becomes best friends with them forever. It is not like that! Trust me you will like it cause I liked writin it! *smiles winingly*) Oh and it has been brought to my attenion that Ibuprofen thins blood so therefor if you have a gun shot wound and you can't go to the hospital cuz you're on the run then DON'T swallow a bottle of Ibuprofen It will make you bleed to death! K? P.S. thanx for all the reviews I love openin my inbox to find reviews! Hehe I will not make you guys wait any longer!   
  
8:00 am  
  
Pursuit team's office  
  
The Center  
  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
  
"Miss Parker do you know anything about a project A-dapt?"  
  
"If Frankin Boy wants to know then no."  
  
"What if I want to know?"  
  
"The answer is still no."   
  
"Well in that case we need to find out."  
  
"Fine"   
  
Parker heaved herself out of her chair and the work that she was doing to go get Broots she came back seconds later with him following her. She pointed to his computer chair.   
  
"Find anything you can about project A-dapt."   
  
Parker turned to Sydney   
  
"Happy?"  
  
Sydney just leaned back in his chair and smiled. Everyone had been getting irritable here lately from the lack of leads on Jarod.   
  
Some hours later.   
  
Miss Parker you won't believe this. I found out what Project A-dapt is.   
  
"You're right Broots I don't believe it!" Parker said in mock surprise.   
  
Broots went on as if she really didn't believe it.   
  
"Well it did take awhile. I had to by pass a lot of codes and if anybody figures out I did this then I am..."  
  
"Broots spit it out already what did you find!?"  
  
"Well Lyle was running a Project called Project A-dapt. They had been testing local schools to find abnormally high IQs. When they did find one girl that they thought was a potential pretender they had another project come up at the same time. In his haste Lyle kidnapped this girl and injected her with wolf chromosomes. Her body, in order to adapt started to change. Lyle tried to erase her memory about the whole event and put her back in her home because apparently stress had something to do with when the body adapted it would have made her more naturally irritable. When the transformation was complete he kidnapped her for good. That was about a week ago. Jarod must have found out because she and her friends that Lyle had also kidnapped escaped last night. Her name is Takara, She is fourteen years old. Here is what I could find on her. "  
  
Broots handed Miss Parker a file. Miss Parker looked it over. Her eyes grew wide at the stuff this child was and would have been subject to. She was completely different then what she looked like before. Now she looked like a disturbed child who was not sure where she belonged. She looked like she had cut her hair short and her eyes were now yellow. Parker had no doubt in her mind that The Center had done this to this girl. She felt sorry for her in a way. Parker handed the file to Sydney.  
  
"So is this what your lab rat wanted us to find?"  
  
Sydney looked over the file.  
  
"I believe so yes. The question now is why?"   
  
Almost on cue Lyle walked in.   
  
"Hey guys."   
  
The pursuit team stared at Lyle.  
  
"What?"   
  
The pursuit team continued to stare.   
  
"Gees talk about feeling unwanted."  
  
"What do you want Lyle?"  
  
"Oh I was just dropping by to tell you guys that you have another subject to chase after."  
  
Lyle threw a folder on Parker's desk.  
  
"Daddy's orders." He mocked.  
  
With that Lyle turned and walked out of the room before Parker had a chance to say no. Parker picked up the folder and sure enough it was Kara's.   
  
"I hate when he does that."  
  
But Parker knew as well as anyone else that her father's orders were made to be carried out. She sighed and sat down in her chair again.  
  
"Well Broots I guess you can go back to your computer and look for genius man and ware wolf girl now."   
  
  
  
10:00 am  
  
Jarod's cabin  
  
Just outside of Blue Cove  
  
Jarod had just taken enough time to drain The Center's bank accounts a few million dollars and recircuit the money around the world so that it could not be traced. He got up from his chair and looked at the kids. They were all dressed in Center issue cloths. Goodness how Jarod hated those cloths. *There is no way they are going back to their parents looking like that *   
  
"So... Who wants to go shopping?"  
  
"Oh come on Jarod. You can't really say that you are going to go shopping with six teenagers. That is the dumbest thing that you could ever do. You are going to drain your wallet." Said Josh in protest.   
  
"Well considering they need cloths cause there is no way they are going to go home in those cloths. Plus it is not my money it is The Center's money."  
  
Jarod held up a credit card.   
  
"I charge these directly to The Center. We have a few hundred dollars to spend on cloths. So let's go."  
  
The kids looked at each other and jumped up from their game of Monopoly. They headed out the door and to the vans.   
  
"Haha we look like we are about to rob some place." Mentioned Dominic, referring to the black cloths and vans. They stopped at the BON TON first for the girls. Resse and Dom couldn't find much in there, just pink lots of pink. Leah had found a pair of dark blue flares with leather stitching up the sides, and a red kitty gots claws shirt. Diana tried on a pair of skintight black flares and an orange shirt with perfect written across the front of it.   
  
The guys went over to TJ Max to get some cloths while the girls were shopping. Kara and Maggie couldn't find anything in the store for them so they went with the guys. There, Maggie got a black element hoddie and beanie and dark blue flares. Resse got a dark red hoodie with billibong printed across it and light blue baggie pants. Dom chose a plain black hoodie and plain black baggie pants. Kara came running up with a pair of baggie black pants and a dark blue hoddie.   
  
"Look guys!"   
  
She opened up the hoodie to reveal a wolf on the front. It was a fox-racing shirt.  
  
"I think it looks more like wolf than a fox."  
  
Her friends burst out laughing. Just then Di and Leah walked in wearing their new cloths. The others went into the changing rooms to change out of their old cloths and into their new ones. Jarod paid for them and the cashier let them walk out of the store wearing them.   
  
"Now to get you guys back to your families."   
  
Some hours later  
  
Jarod's new car  
  
Going to who knows where  
  
Kara's friends got returned to their parents and everybody was very relived to find their children safe. Jarod had given each family a good amount of money and had set it up so that The Center would not come after them any time soon. Jarod had not told each family much about The Center. He just told them enough to let them in on what they had got into. Jarod had also given each family his cell phone number and e-mail address in case of trouble. He had also promised Kara's friends that they would still be able to stay in touch for the most part. Now he and Kara were on the run again.  
  
"So where are we going now?" asked Kara.  
  
"I donno you choose. I wanted, if it is ok with you, to run some tests on you to make sure that The Center didn't do anything else to you. That would involve medical equipment. So I guess you get to pick your hospital."  
  
"I've never been to Florida before."  
  
"Alright then. To Florida it is then. "  
  
  
  
Three days later  
  
2:30 PM   
  
Apartment building  
  
Tallahassee, Florida   
  
WARNING FIRST PERSON: KARA  
  
I sat on my bed thinking. It was not so bad, this new life. Jarod was at work now. He had run some tests on me when we first got here. It was funny how he walked into the hospital acting like he was supposed to be there. He said that he would bring the results of the tests home tonight for me to see. So far I already knew a lot about my new self. I only need about five hours of sleep any more. I would go to bed at midnight and wake up at five with out an alarm clock. Man how I loved those words. 'With out an alarm clock. No more infernal beeping devices rousing me out of my sleep. I would go for a run in the park and be back before Jarod woke up to get ready for work. Speaking of which he should be home soon. I tried cooking for him last night but he got called in on an emergency about a kid with a gunshot wound. He rushed out the door with a couple of Twinkies in hand. I couldn't help but to laugh. He lived on junk food. The cashier at the grocery store must have thought we were nuts. We had gotten a whole bunch of meat and a lot more candy. I am still trying to persuade Jarod to take me to a rural area and let me go hunting with him. He was not too keen on the idea of killing an animal. I used to go hunting all the time with some of my mom's friends before. She was never too keen on hunting either but she let me go because she said that she did not want to hold me back. I don't know why I haven't shed tears for mom yet. You always cry when you think about your loved ones dying but when it finally happens you don't cry at all. I don't know it feels like she is still with me. I think that is why I don't cry. I jumped up as I heard the door open. That was another thing, the little sounds that I brushed off before are important to me now. It is almost like I am was predator mode.   
  
I walked out into the kitchen area to start dinner. Maybe Jarod would stick around long enough to have some this time.   
  
"Hello."  
  
"Hi"   
  
Jarod walked over to me with a folder in his hand as I was rooting around in the fridge for something healthy. I wasn't against junk food mind you. I just think that there is such thing as too much. I pulled out half a pound of ground beef and searched the cup broads to see if I have enough ingredients to pull off tacos. I took out a pan, put it on the stove and dumped the meat into it. Jarod came over to the table and put down the folder. I walked over.   
  
"Those are the results. From what I gathered everything that was in your file at The Center was true, but they looked over some aspects. Your hair will no longer grow more than an inch or two. You are going to have more energy than you can deal with. You will need to find some way to work it off. One more thing, the wolf gene in you decided that it didn't want you to have chocolate."   
  
I looked up at Jarod somewhat confused. He continued to explain.  
  
"Most dogs and other animals can't have chocolate. It speeds up their system too much. You, being human can still have chocolate and other sweets but you can't have as much, nor on a regular basis."  
  
I put on a sad puppy face. Jarod laughed.  
  
"I think that you will have to find your own limit on that yourself."  
  
I didn't love chocolate as much as other people did but I would get cravings every now and then. None of the things Jarod mentioned would be too much of a problem for me. I got up from the chair that I had sat down in and went over to check on the meat. I couldn't help to think as I got up that this was the true new beginning to my life. This was where it all started. My mind's response to this was three unspoken words. Bring it on!  
  
  
  
A/n ok I think that I am gonna post one more chapter before I start to post the sequel. Earthdrago did bring something to my attention though. I need a beta reader! (Beta reader is someone that reads your stuff before hand and finds mistakes right?) Most people I know either don't know what the heck The Pretender is or just plain don't have enough time. So... *grins shyly* if any of you guys are up to the job please tell me. *Grin broadens* Please review thanks! 


	8. Where it all starts

Disclaimer: I don't possess the pretender or any of the characters. No infringement is intended.   
  
A/n this is the last chapter of this story. I will try to post the first chapter to the sequel within the next few days though so. I have decided to call it "Gifted meets Gifted". This is also a warning. In this chapter there is hunting. (Of animals not pretenders) I don't mean to offend anybody or gross anybody out so if you can't stand the hunting of animals please don't read this chapter. I am also sorry for the switch to first person in the last part of the last chapter but I felt it was necessary seeing how much Kara was thinking. Now for the grand finale!  
  
Three weeks later 7:00 am  
  
Rural Ohio  
  
Farmhouse Jarod had rented  
  
Kara set a plate of food in front Jarod as he shuffled into the kitchen, and took a seat at the table. Jarod looked down at the plate then looked up at Kara with a raised eyebrow. She had stopped trying to make him meals, especially breakfast, a whole week ago.   
  
"Alright, what do you want?"   
  
Kara rocked back and forth on her feet.   
  
"I dunno, maybe a walk in the woods, maybe a night under the stars... and a hunting partner?"   
  
Jarod's head shot up at the last phrase. He then reapplied himself to the food he had started to eat.  
  
"I dunno Kara. I don't really like the idea of hunting."  
  
"Oh come on Jarod. You don't even have to hunt. It's just that hunters under the age of sixteen have to have adult supervision."  
  
"I will have to think about it. The walk and the night out, yes, I understand how much you like the woods and I am even willing to let you spend the night alone out there if you want. I will have to think about the hunting thing though." Jarod finished the rest of his meal in silence. He then got up and cleaned his plate, went over to the door and grabbed his new denim jacket. This time he was doing a pretend as a large animal vet.  
  
"I might not be here when you get back."   
  
Jarod looked at her with a raised eyebrow.   
  
"Ok, just remember that we are still on the run. I will be home around four thirty unless something comes up. If it does, I'll call."   
  
Kara nodded and said good-bye. After he left she started packing. When they went into town yesterday she had made sure to get a knife and a canteen along with some other simple equipment that she needed. Jarod must have known that she was planing on spending the whole day out in the woods, but he knew how much she missed it. After packing a few things to eat and filling her canteen, Kara strapped the canteen, compass, and hunting knife to her belt. She walked out of the house and back into the woods.   
  
  
  
Two hours later  
  
Some where in the woods  
  
Rural Ohio  
  
WARNING: FIRST PERSON KARA:   
  
I had climbed a tree and was reclining there taking a rest. (Not that I needed a rest.) I looked all around me. I loved it here. I had always loved the woods and animals before. Ever since I changed I have felt called towards the woods. I felt like I was more "one" with it. Everything that happened there seemed so natural. I loved it. It made me feel truly free.   
  
I felt like using some stored up energy so I jumped for where I was perched in the tree. It must have been at least a six-foot drop, but I didn't mind. I actually liked the tingling sensation that I felt in my legs as I landed on all fours in a crouched position. I ran a few feet on all fours-- it was easier to do now. When I was little I used to pretend to be all kinds of animals, but every time I tried to walk like one my butt would stick in the air, so I would resort to crawling on my hands and knees. My leg bones have shrunken a bit since then. It was still uncomfortable to walk on all fours, but running was fun. It was completely different than running on two legs. All the power started at your toes and worked up to your quads where it was released in a burst of energy. I stretched out after awhile and leaped up and grabbed a passing branch. I flipped myself up on to it with the momentum from my short run.   
  
"Energetic bugger, ain't ya?"  
  
I turned my head to see a man to my left.   
  
"Doesn't the wilderness make you want to run frolic and act just a little more like an animal?" I asked.   
  
The man chuckled. "My name is Ben."  
  
I jumped from the tree branch, landed on my feet and dusted my hands off on my pants.  
  
"The name's Takara, but most people call me Kara."  
  
"Pretty name."  
  
"May I ask what you are doing in the middle of nowhere?"   
  
Ben was dressed like as if he was in for a hike like me.   
  
"I work as a farm hand about an hour away from here. The new vet came today so I was given a little time off."   
  
I smiled. "Yeah, that's my Dad. We just moved here not too long ago. I was just out for a walk. I love it out here."   
  
Ben looked around.   
  
"I can see why."   
  
Ben was about twenty years old. He had unruly brown hair that was only a little bit longer than mine. It stuck out in places, obviously from him working and getting messy.   
  
"You wanna walk with me for a bit?" I asked.  
  
I wanted to know more about Ben. He seemed nice and it was not often that I met someone that was willing to be friends with me right off the bat.   
  
"Sure."   
  
We walked for a while, laughing and joking and chatting about our hobbies, but I steered clear of where I came from and anything to do with the past. Ben didn't seem to mind. We had been walking for about an hour when I noticed the time.   
  
"Oh, I wanted to get home before my Dad did. Do you have to go back to work?"   
  
Ben shook his head.   
  
"If my boss needs me she will call... literally."  
  
"Well, how about if you come to my house for dinner? I'm sure my Dad wouldn't mind."   
  
It felt weird calling Jarod my Dad, but we decided on what kinds of pretends we would call each other. This pretend fell under normal and legal so I called him dad. I turned and started to walk off in a different direction.   
  
4:30 pm  
  
Farm House  
  
Rural Ohio  
  
END FRIST PERSON  
  
  
  
Kara laughed at the story Ben was telling her as he helped her make dinner. Just as they finished putting the rest of the ingredients on the rabbit and put it in the oven to cook, Jarod came home. He followed the laughter to the kitchen where he found Kara making dinner with a man that he'd met earlier that day. His name was Ben, if Jarod remember correctly. Kara turned to see Jarod in the doorway.   
  
"Hello. Daddy, I want you to meet Ben. When I was taking a walk today I met up with him. He's a hand at the farm that you were at today."   
  
Kara still felt weird calling Jarod her dad. Calling him daddy made it a little easier though. It wasn't that she didn't want Jarod to be her dad; it was just that she already had one. Her mom had told her that her dad had been so excited when he'd figured out that her mom had been pregnant.  
  
"He had went to work that day and said over the intercom at the hospital that he was going to be a dad," he mom had said. "He couldn't wait for you to come, Honey. Every night he would think of a new thing to do with you when you were born-- he even made a list. He loved you, Honey, and no matter what he will always love you. He will always be your one and only dad."  
  
Kara wondered why she didn't get to have a dad. To Kara the name 'dad' could never be replaced. She called Jarod daddy instead. He didn't seem to mind.   
  
Ben and Jarod shook hands.   
  
"I believe we met this morning," said Ben  
  
Jarod nodded his head. "I believe so, yes."  
  
"So how did the new ponies check out on the medical exam?"  
  
Jarod laughed. "They're fine. I have never seen two more lively and healthy colts. When did you start working there anyway? Karen said that all her employees have been with her for awhile."  
  
Now it was Ben's turn to laugh. "I have been living there since I was sixteen and got in some trouble as far as life went. Karen took me in. She made the excuse of needing her employees close by. She treated me like I was one of her own kids. Six years later, here I am still working for her."   
  
Kara called that dinner was ready and the two men walked over to seat themselves at the table. She walked over with two plates full to the max with food that she set before them. Jarod dug in but Ben sat there for a few seconds with a thoughtful look on his face. Kara asked him what was wrong and he stated his thought.  
  
"This is rabbit." He stated as he gestured towards his food with his fork. "That means that you like to hunt, am I right?" Ben asked Jarod, as he finally dug into his meal. Kara almost fell off her seat giggling uncontrollably. Jarod threw her a playful glare and proceeded to answer Ben's question.   
  
"No, I don't hunt, but Kara had been trying to get me to for awhile now. I was hoping that once we got settled I could find someone to go with her."  
  
Ben understood how Jarod felt. Some people didn't mind hunting, but they could not stand to take the life of an animal themselves. It seemed like Jarod didn't mind Kara's passion for hunting, but he couldn't bring himself to go with her and watch her take a life.  
  
"Well me and some of the other guys at the farm go hunting every once in awhile. We are going archery hunting for deer on Tuesday if you want to come, Kara. Of course if your dad approves that is."  
  
Kara's ears had perked up at the word 'hunt'. Clearly excited, she gave Jarod her best puppy-dog face. Jarod couldn't help but laugh.   
  
"Alright then. If Ben says it's ok, but you're not going to con me into skinning the poor thing if you do get a deer, got it?"  
  
Kara jumped from her seat and gave Jarod a huge hug, laughing. "Yeah, I got it. I won't be any trouble, I promise. Thanks Daddy! Thanks Ben!"  
  
"Yeah, 'thanks Ben'." Jarod mocked.   
  
Ben laughed.   
  
Tuesday 5:30 am  
  
Farmhouse  
  
Rural Ohio  
  
Kara had been running around getting ready since five this morning. She'd even skipped her normal morning run so she could get ready. She had gotten Jarod to take her out to a sport's shop in town yesterday and so she was now packing all her stuff. Jarod would not go as far as buying her a bow, though. But that was ok because Ben had said that he had one for her to use. Kara walked into the kitchen to fill her canteen and jumped at the site of Jarod at the table trying to wake himself up with a cup of coffee. Kara smirked, knowing that he was up to make sure that she was ok going out.   
  
Jarod looked up to see Kara standing in the doorway holding a canteen. She walked over to the sink and filled her canteen.   
  
"So," he said.  
  
"So."  
  
"So, do you have everything that you need?"  
  
"Um, hunting knife, compass, canteen, florescent orange, license, hiking boots, hunting pants and shirt. Yeah, I think I have everything."   
  
Before Jarod could voice anymore of his worries, the doorbell rang. Kara went and opened it to find Ben and two of his friends from the farm. Jarod had already met them and deemed them to be fine gentlemen.   
  
After talking to Jarod about where they were going and when they would be back at the latest, they set off. Usually the guys would go a far ways back into the woods, but Ben wanted to stay on the edge for Kara's sake, even though Kara told him not to worry about her.   
  
"With my child-like energy I will be running circles around you guys," she even added jokingly.   
  
Two hours later  
  
The Woods   
  
Rural Ohio  
  
They had been hiking for two hours now. Ben would whisper to her every once in awhile that if she needed to stop they would. Kara would tell him that she was fine and they would keep on walking. Ben's two friends had split up with them a half an hour ago to drive some deer, and so now Kara and Ben sat down to wait. Kara let her instincts control her. She listened to every little leaf rustle and every squirrel chatter. She would watch which way the wind blew and where a deer would run if she did came across one. She didn't need to do this, but it was fun for her. She liked the feeling of being primitive; it felt like nothing could fail on you.   
  
She sat there engulfed in her own thoughts for what seemed like forever. Suddenly a deer came strolling by. It was a buck, a small one, but a buck with a rack nonetheless. Ben did not show any interest in taking a deer that was so small, but it was perfect for Kara and Jarod's needs. Kara fitted an arrow to her bow and raised it ever so slowly, taking a deep breath and pulling back the string at the same time. She lined up the point of her arrow with her target and breathed out shallowly, and then let her arrow fly. The deer started for a second, but soon fell over- dead. Ben looked at her in amazement.   
  
"That was a clean kill, I think!"  
  
Kara put her bow down nonchalantly.  
  
"I don't like to make them suffer if I don't have to."   
  
The two of them were just about to walk over to retrieve the deer when another deer walked into their area. This one was a large doe. Ben raised his bow, motioning that he had a doe license, and let off an arrow. This doe stumbled but recovered and ran off with the arrow in her shoulder. Ben shrugged.  
  
"Some people aren't that good of a shot."  
  
Kara laughed as she walked over to tag and gut her deer before they went to track down Ben's doe. They found her not too far away lying on the ground breathing heavily. They decided to give her her final moments of life to herself.   
  
Four hours later  
  
Farmhouse  
  
Rural Ohio   
  
Jarod looked out the window to see three of the group dragging deer back. After they had gotten to the edge of the woods, Kara came running inside to get some things they needed to skin and quarter the deer. A couple of minutes later she ran back outside with a big bucket, some clothe bags, a saw, and rope. Jarod couldn't help but to shake his head. This kid was so excited to skin an animal! It was disgusting to him. He had done a pretend as a butcher once on a cow farm and he had not found it at all pleasant. He turned away from the window to go read a book. Hopefully she wouldn't call him out to help her in her endeavors. He would tell her later on that he had solved the case about the horses disappearing, and that they would be moving soon. Maybe he would buy a place up here and come to get away every once in awhile. After all, Kara wasn't the only one who liked it here. He picked up his book as Kara ran back into the house with a bloody object in her hands. She opened the fridge and before Jarod realized what she was doing, she had poured the quart of milk they had into a bowl, put the object in it, and put it back in the fridge. She turned to Jarod.   
  
"You don't mind liver for dinner do you?"   
  
Jarod raised an eyebrow at her. Yep, this was definitely the beginning. This was where it all started. Who said that life had to have one track? As far as Jarod was concerned he had just jumped rails in the track of life, and boy was this track going to be a handful.   
  
A/n Thanx for reading my story. Now please, please, please review! I also apologize for any mistakes in the laws and seasons with the whole hunting thing. You see I obviously don't live in Ohio and I don't know what their laws are for hunting. So I just took the laws our county had and put them in my rural Ohio area, ok? Also a big thanks to ShadowElfBard who volunteered to be my Beta reader. (Contrary to popular belief I did not hold her at gun point and demand her to edit my story. Humph! The nerve of some people!) Don't forget about the sequel! Remember, it's called "Gifted meets Gifted"! I also think that I will do some more first persons on the next fan fic. I got some good feedback about it so I think I will continue! 


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